BEHIND THE CURTAIN

The world of theatre encompasses a diverse range of roles and skills, all of which are valued equally t at the College. To achieve high performance, every role must play a part. As a department, we ensure our students are exposed to this diversity through a co-curricular programme that is ambitious in breadth and scope. We take full advantage of our South London setting to seek out and develop mutually beneficial partnerships with organisations active in the world of theatre. Recent examples include Frantic Assembly and PunchDrunk, whose vision not only serves to inspire the students, but to remind them of the breadth of opportunity that exists within the profession. We are fortunate to have a parent body that represent some of the biggest names in the industry, who willingly give of their time to support the College. In addition, such experiences with industry professionals are not limited to performers, with the Opening Minds lecture series having hosted playwrights, producers and directors, once again reminding our students that it’s not only performers for whom the theatre offers opportunity.

The co-curriculum is enriched further with trips to artistic showings, including but not limited to the theatre, art galleries, orchestral recitals, the opera and West End workshops. Sources of inspiration are never too far away as a result of the diverse community that we are proud to be a part of. Many of our students are inspired by these experiences and have gone on to work as professionals in the industry, with one of our most dedicated performers recently appearing in the West End sellout, ‘The Ferryman’, directed by Jez Butterworth. RADA and The Central School of Speech and Drama are regular destinations for our alumni, with two of our most innovative technical designers and stage managers recently accepting a place of study on their prestigious degree programmes. In all that we do, we continually encourage students to explore an amalgamation of artistic endeavours, so that they remain both progressive and agile in their response to the ever-changing world of contemporary theatre.